Something is rotten in the state of England.

The funeral in Edinburgh Friday of top Iraq war critic Robin Cook featured as much dark intrigue as a Shakespearean tragedy. First, the TV personality and Cook friend who lashed out at PM Blair's absence, calling it a snub to the family and "petty vindictiveness." Some must have thought again of the vacationing PM during the oration of long-time Cook colleague and fellow Scot Gordon Brown. A polished politician and unofficial British Prime Minister in-waiting, Brown said about as much as he could get away with about the suspicious circumstances of Cook's death, delivering this sharp-edged double entendre: "Robin was taken from us at the height of his powers, with causes still to be advanced..."

 http://www.epolitix.com/EN/News/200508/c9822644-5383-4ae1-b999-740840d61e94.htm
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Interestingly, the (Saturday) London Times which also carried this quote later dropped it from their website edition's account of the funeral oration.

Why suspicious circumstances? Most accounts of the death of Blair's bete noir--which came even as the PM played the terror card to "lock down" London--persisted in implying he was "with his wife" at the moment of his collapse on the Scottish mountain of Ben Stack, which if true would rule out foul play. But reports from two different newspapers made a startling revelation: Cook's wife was indeed with him on the expedition, but not at the crucial moment of his "collapse." She did not witness it--only an unidentified male companion did !

The Daily Express, 7 Aug:
The incident occurred near a spot called Laxford Bridge. His male companion, who was not identified, raised the alarm on his mobile phone by calling the police at Dornoch.
...The coast guard helicopter, based at Stornoway, was airborne at the time on a routine training flight when the crew were asked to head to the scene of the incident.

The helicopter lowered the winchman and a stretcher to the spot where Mr Cook was lying. He then received rescuscitation for an hour. Mr Cook's companion sent a message to his wife Gaynor who was believed to be at the bottom of the mountain. MR COOK'S COMPANION SENT A MESSAGE TO HIS WIFE GAYNOR WHO WAS BELIEVED TO BE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MOUNTAIN.

..Labor MP Martin ONeill, a close friend of Mr Cooks and a fellow Scot said ..I last saw him 3 weeks ago at a meeting in Glasgow and there was no hint that he was in ill-health. He was actually in incredibly good form...."


The Times
George Chrossan, the Stornoway Coastguard helicopter winchman who attended the incident, said that Mrs Cook had been on her own when Mr Cook suddenly collapsed and stopped breathing about 1,000ft below the summit.
MRS COOK HAD BEEN ON HER OWN WHEN MR COOK SUDDENLY COLLAPSED

"He had not complained of any pain. He had fallen about eight feet down a ridge after collapsing, which resulted in a slight head injury.
 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1726109,00.html

So the only witness to the sudden and fatal collapse of the healthy and eloquent war critic--whose only medical problem was high blood pressure--was his "male companion", who remains unidentified! and as far as we know, never interviewed by police!

Footnote: It was Robin Cook who let the cat out of the bag on the origin of the name Al Quaeda. Yes it means "the base" --but according to Cook--as in "database." The name came from the database of mujahedin working in Afghanistan for the intelligence agencies...the agencies' database.